Sunday, March 8, 2015

We are the Message

Εις Μίαν, Αγίαν, Καθολικήν και Αποστολικήν Εκκλησίαν

In One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church

THE SYMBOL OF NICÆA

So, who or what is this ‘apostolic’? Of course, we know that in the Symbol of Nicæa the Church is called ‘apostolic’ and that this means the Church founded by the holy apostles of Jesus Christ and continued from them until today by their successors. And who are these successors? They are those who from the beginning were ordained to carry on their work in the same unity of faith and practice. And how were they ordained? They were ordained, each succeeding generation by its predecessor, by the laying on of hands with prayer. Only those qualify by this definition to call themselves ‘apostolic’. It goes without saying, then, that these ordained and the congregations in which they live and to which they minister, are the Church. This is the definition of ‘apostolic’ held by the ancient Church up to modern times. The Eastern Orthodox claim this means them. So do the Oriental Orthodox, the Roman Catholic, the Anglican, some Lutheran and other ‘Protestant’ churches, usually to the exclusion of the others. Makes sense, doesn’t it?

Others, knowing that they cannot lay claim to a literal pedigree of ordinations as these ‘historic’ churches, claim to be ‘apostolic’ by virtue of following what Christ and the holy apostles laid down. According to them, this qualification needs no literal pedigree, only a ‘spiritual’ one. They do what Christ and the holy apostles did, as evidenced in the Holy Scriptures. Aside from all arguments pro and con, it’s not hard to sit down and compare what churches and their leaders do with what we find in the Bible. Now that ‘the secret’ is out—the Word of God in everyman’s language and in everyman’s hands, every ‘church’, ‘ministry’ and teacher is on the witness stand, like it or not, and we the people sit in the judgment seat. That is, until the real Judge appears. Hence, the tree of disunity and argumentation in the Church has borne bitter fruit which all of us must eat, whether we like it or not.

Still, this is true, this is the only rational approach, taught us by the Word of God Himself, in the holy gospels and in the letters of the holy apostles.

Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves. By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thorn bushes, or figs from thistles? Likewise every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them.

Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’

Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.

When Jesus had finished saying these things, the crowds were amazed at his teaching, because he taught as one who had authority, and not as their teachers of the law. Matthew 7:15-29 NIV

And this is prefaced by a saying of Christ even more astonishing, even more dreadful.

Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it. Matthew 7:13-14 NIV

And the holy apostles, following their Master and doing and saying what they saw Jesus doing and heard Jesus saying, write to us with the mind of Christ.

Now you, if you call yourself a Jew; if you rely on the law and brag about your relationship to God; if you know his will and approve of what is superior because you are instructed by the law; if you are convinced that you are a guide for the blind, a light for those who are in the dark, an instructor of the foolish, a teacher of infants, because you have in the law the embodiment of knowledge and truth— you, then, who teach others, do you not teach yourself? You who preach against stealing, do you steal? You who say that people should not commit adultery, do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you rob temples? You who brag about the law, do you dishonor God by breaking the law? As it is written: ‘God's name is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you.’

Circumcision has value if you observe the law, but if you break the law, you have become as though you had not been circumcised. If those who are not circumcised keep the law's requirements, will they not be regarded as though they were circumcised? The one who is not circumcised physically and yet obeys the law will condemn you who, even though you have the written code and circumcision, are a lawbreaker.

A man is not a Jew if he is only one outwardly, nor is circumcision merely outward and physical. No, a man is a Jew if he is one inwardly; and circumcision is circumcision of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the written code. Such a man's praise is not from men, but from God.Romans 2:17-29 NIV

And this is prefaced by a saying of the apostle even more astonishing, even more dreadful.

For it is not those who hear the law who are righteous in God's sight, but it is those who obey the law who will be declared righteous. (Indeed, when Gentiles, who do not have the law, do by nature things required by the law, they are a law for themselves, even though they do not have the law, since they show that the requirements of the law are written on their hearts, their consciences also bearing witness, and their thoughts now accusing, now even defending them.)Romans 2:13-15 NIV

Who can stand up and declare themselves ‘apostolic’ to the exclusion of others who reads these words? Who would want to be ‘apostolic’ if they could not share this title with others who may be more worthy than they to claim it?

For, looking past the designation ‘Jew’ and replacing it with a word that to us means the same as Jew, whatever it be, and looking past ‘circumcision’ and replacing it with a word that to us means a ceremonial sign, we can see and understand for ourselves what the holy apostle Paul is saying in his letter to the church at Rome. From the words of Christ in the holy gospel, speaking as He was to those who were literally Jews, we can see the same message.

We cannot rely on our pedigrees to be anything, but our following of Christ and His holy apostles is what makes us ‘apostolic’ in the eyes of the Judge of all the earth.

The pedigrees have their usefulness when used as intended, but that has little to do with the reality, only with the form. They are like the basket that holds the sacred scrolls of the Word of God gone out to all the nations, but ‘everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice’are the scrolls themselves,‘the requirements of the law… written on their hearts’.

Whatever else we believe or say we know to be true, we simply cannot put aside what the Holy Scriptures have bequeathed to us, the true written account of the Word of God, and it is up to us if we are ‘apostolic’ to be devoted‘to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer’(Acts 2:42), that is, to be the Word of God as it unfolds in daily life, today.

Jesus did many other things as well. If every one of them were written down, I suppose that even the whole world would not have room for the books that would be written. John 21:25 NIV

You yourselves are our letter, written on our hearts, known and read by everybody. You show that you are a letter from Christ, the result of our ministry, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts.2 Corinthians 3:2-3 NIV

Let me reiterate.

The pedigrees have their usefulness when used as intended, but that has little to do with the reality, only with the form. They are like the basket that holds the sacred scrolls of the Word of God gone out to all the nations, but‘everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice’ are the scrolls themselves, ‘the requirements of the law… written on their hearts’.

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Christ is Everything. He is joy, He is life, He is light. He is the true light who makes man joyful, makes him soar with happiness; makes him see everything, everybody; makes him feel for everyone, to want everyone with him, everyone with Christ.

Where there is no love, there is no Church. There remains only its external form, a deceit, which repulses people. That is why our churches remain empty, that is why our young people lapse. Lord, help us to become Your Church, not just its appearance.

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